Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Night Game

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  
    Scyther
    Senior Member

  • Night Game



    Released by: Olive Films
    Released on: March 31st, 2015
    Directed by: Peter Masterson
    Cast: Roy Scheider, Karen Young, Lane Smith
    Year: 1989
    Purchase From Amazon

    The Movie

    Night Game is an odd little film, a late period relic of the 1980s which straddles a number of genre lines, without ever committing to one long enough to grab a proper focus.

    A maniac is murdering young women, and it's up to one determined detective-played by veteran actor Roy Scheider-to track him down, before his young fiancee (Karen Young) becomes the killer's next victim. Night Game is part American giallo, part slasher and part police procedural thriller, keeping the actual murder set pieces far enough apart while the characters are given some back story and personality, even while the actual killer's motivation is rushed in at the end with a confusing and, frankly silly, plot twist.

    The slashings themselves are vicious, physical assaults, however, as each of the young women are mercilessly slaughtered with a longshoreman's hook. Granted, there isn't much in the way of gratuitous nudity or gore, but each set piece strikes with enough force to be memorable. These sequences are also impeccably lit, particularly during a sequence in a funhouse, where future Xena star Renee O'Connor meets her untimely demise at the hands of the killer, all the while bathed in an eerie red light.

    The film itself is fairly ridiculous, and more than a little sexist, as each stalk-and-slash scene is framed with a lurid sense of glee, while most of the men depicted here in director Peter Masterson's film either have secrets to hide skeletons in their closet, or are just plain dumb. Composer Pino Donaggio delivers a slinky 'n sleazy score full of saxophone, which definitely places this film straight in the sights of its late 80s time slot. Proper enjoyment of Night Game, however, ultimately comes down to much throwaway plot one can suffer through in order to get to some nicely shot and satisfyingly atmospheric murder sequences.

    Video/Audio/Extras

    Olive Films Blu-Ray of Night Game does look properly gorgeous, however, with a supremely sharp and detailed picture, with bright colors and deep blacks. The aforementioned murder scene in the funhouse looks particularly great here in high definition-nicely framed here in the disc's 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen picture-while the 5.1 DTS audio track is free of hiss and background noise. Sadly, there are absolutely zero extras here, just a "play" option and chapter stops.

    The Final Words

    Night Game isn't the most original or exciting film in the world, but it does provide enough slasher nostalgia and semi-sleazy thrills to fill an afternoon for those with a particularly high tolerance for the stuff. Give it a shot.

    Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!





















      Posting comments is disabled.

    Latest Articles

    Collapse

    • Hot Spur (Severin Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Severin Films
      Released on: April 30th, 2024.
      Director: Lee Frost
      Cast: Joseph Mascolo, Virginia Goodman, John Alderman
      Year: 1969
      Purchase From Amazon

      Hot Spur – Movie Review:

      Director Lee Frost and Producer Bob Cresse's film, Hot Spur, opens in Texas in 1869 with a scene where a pair of cowboys wanders into a bar where they call over a pretty Mexican waitress and coerce her into dancing for them. She obliges, but
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:53 AM
    • Death Squad (Mondo Macabro) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Mondo Macabro
      Released on: April 9th, 2024.
      Director: Max Pecas
      Cast: Thierry de Carbonnières, Jean-Marc Maurel, Denis Karvil, Lillemour Jonsson
      Year: 1985
      Purchase From Amazon

      Death Squad – Movie Review:

      Also known as Brigade Of Death, French sleaze auteur Max Pecas’ 1985 film, Death Squad, opens with a night time scene outside of Paris in the Bois de Boulogne Forest where cars pass by a small gang of transsexual
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:46 AM
    • Roommates (Quality X) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Quality X
      Released on: February 28th, 2024.
      Director: Chuck Vincent
      Cast: Samantha Fox, Vernoica Hart, Kelly Nichols, Jerry Butler, Jamie Gillis
      Year: 1982
      Purchase From Amazon

      Roommates – Movie Review:

      Directed by Chuck Vincent and released in 1982, Roommates opens with a scene where a young woman named Joan Harmon (Veronica Hart) gets a hotel room with an older man named Ken (Don Peterson, credited as Phil Smith),
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:10 PM
    • Night Of The Blood Monster (Blue Underground) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Blue Underground
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Jess Franco
      Cast: Christopher Lee, Maria Rohm, Dennis Price
      Year: 1970
      Purchase From Amazon

      Night Of The Blood Monster – Movie Review:

      Directed by Jess Franco, The Bloody Judge (or, Night Of The Blood Monster, as it is going by on this new release from Blue Underground) isn't quite the salacious exercise in Eurotrash you might expect it to be, and while it
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:07 PM
    • Phase IV (Vinegar Syndrome) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Saul Bass
      Cast: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford, Robert Henderson, Helen Horton
      Year: 1974
      Purchase From Amazon

      Phase IV – Movie Review:

      Saul Bass’ 1974 sci-fi/thriller Phase IV is an interesting blend of nature run amuck stereotypes and Natural Geographic style nature footage mixed into one delicious cocktail of suspense and
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:02 PM
    • The Bounty Hunter Trilogy (Radiance Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Radiance Films
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Shigehiro Ozawa, Eiichi Kudo
      Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Minoru Ôki, Arashi Kanjuro, Bin Amatsu, Chiezo Kataoka
      Year: 1969-1972
      Purchase From Amazon

      The Bounty Hunter Trilogy – Movie Review:

      Radiance Films gathers together the three films in Toie Studios’ Bounty Hunter Trilogy, starring the inimitable Tomisaburo Wakayama. Here’s how the three movies in this
      ...
      03-13-2024, 11:30 AM
    Working...
    X